Medicare And You

Your Medicare Open Enrollment To-Do List

(NAPSI)—Medicare’s annual enrollment period is now underway,
and runs from October 15 to December 7, 2018. You may be happy with your current
Medicare coverage, but it pays to shop around. Here are a few things to keep
in mind.

Don’t shy away from shopping.
Plan details change each year, so the policy that was best for you in 2018
may not be your best option for 2019. Changes to premiums, deductibles and
co-pays can be costly. An analysis of more than 17,000 people using
Medicare.com to compare Medicare plans found that just 10 percent were
enrolled in the lowest-cost plan for their prescription drug needs. Those who
switched to a new drug plan stood to save an average of $611.

Watch for changes in drug coverage.
Read any letters from your insurance company outlining changes in your
prescription drug coverage. Insurance companies often tweak their formulary,
or list of covered drugs, each year. That can mean higher out-of-pocket
expenses for you. Compare coverage for your prescriptions under any new
Medicare plan you consider.

Be sure your doctors participate in
your plan. Double-check to make sure your preferred doctors will still be
part of your health plan’s network next year. You’ll pay more to
see non-network providers, and some health insurers won’t cover
out-of-network providers at all, except in an emergency.

Compare services.
MedicareAdvantage plans tend to offer additional benefits you can’t get
with Original Medicare. These can include dental, vision, hearing and even
fitness benefits.

Shopping for Medicare plans can seem daunting, but there’s a range
of services out there to help enrollees navigate them. Read up on your
options and don’t hesitate to work through a licensed agent to help
match you with the best plan for your needs.

“Plan details change each year,
so the Medicare policy that was best for you in 2018 may not be best for
2019. Read up on your options and don’t hesitate to work through a
licensed agent to help match you with the best plan for your needs. http://bit.ly/2PzGdpI”

A health insurance agent can help you find the
Medicare plan that’s best for you.